"... We jumped off a burning air balloon and survived…"

"... Meow, yup."

"... Your family probably thinks we are both dead right now."

"... Dang, I think you are right… Meow, oh well."

Yuki opens his eyes. The first thing he notices is the sky. It looks exactly the same as it did when he closed his eyes… Which was probably a couple of hours ago.

Yeah, after everything they endured tonight, both Yuki and Motti just allowed their exhaustion to hit them right after they let themselves fall on the grass.

However, the nonchalant reaction his friend had upon such a situation made his tired body jolt up in disbelief.

"... You are not even nervous about it?" Yuki asks as he sits up. Turning his head to the left made him realize Motti was already sitting while looking at the stars attentively.

The young girl shrugged and left out a giggle after a few seconds.

"Meow, it's not like anyone in the temple cares about what happens to me." Motti smirks, despite the nature of what she said. "Meow, I guess Pluto will be mad at Johannes for popping off the balloon with me in it, but he wouldn't really think I'm dead. I've been through worse, meow."

"Worse than falling to your possible death after betraying the cult you grew up in by helping their prisoner escape?" Yuki inquired, his tone met hers as he was almost giggling about this whole situation.

When he said it out loud, he couldn't stop his mind from realizing just how much she really sacrificed for him.

"Meow, you don't know my life." Motti winks at him in response.

Yuki laughed under his breath and looked down.

She is right, though…

He doesn't really know her life or knows her that much at all.

However… He doesn't need to.

Yuki trusts Motti with his life after everything they've gone through… It's strange… He had never trusted anyone to this degree before, except maybe his grandfather.

"We can do this together, say it!"

"We can do this… W-we can do this together."

He remembered their exchange of words from before they jumped off that window… Yuki never imagined there would be a day he would do such a thing.

But… It felt sort of easy when he had his friend by his side.

… Maybe that is why he isn't freaking out about the fact he almost died multiple times tonight… Or the fact that it turns out he is a legendary blader.

Yeah… That… He is definitely going to have to unpack that later.

"Meow…" Motti lets out a sigh as she stands up and starts dusting off her clothes, "Welp! I guess it's time to keep going!"

Yuki blinks and looks up, he sees Motti offering her hand to him. A gentle smile proudly illuminates her face. Without processing what she said, he slowly takes her hand and nods quietly.

Without hesitation, she pulls him up. The young astronomer stumbles around for a brief second before finally standing.

It took him looking down at his feet to notice his shoes and pants were covered in dirt and ashes.

Yuki starts looking at his own clothes and notices just how mangled, dirty, and burned they truly are. He turns his head and notices that Motti's clothes look just as bad as his.

The young girl notices his flabbergasted expression and giggles, "Meow, yeah, we kinda look like a wreck…"

"Yeah…" Yuki just mumbles, staring at the shredded sleeves of what used to be his grandfather's blue jacket. "... I-it's… It's fine, though… We are okay. That's what matters, right?"

Motti didn't miss how his voice broke for a second. It was obvious losing his jacket had affected him more than he let on.

"Meow, yeah." She nods. "Meow, come on. The sooner we get down this mountain, the better."

The young girl started walking away, with the astronomer following her trail.

"So…" Motti mumbled under her breath, trying to come up with ways to lighten the mood.

The boy looks at her, arching an eyebrow in confusion, unsure of what could be wrong.

"Did you see Johannes still had the bucket in his head the entire time, meow?" She asked, giggling at the memory of her brother's angry face, and yet, ridiculous appearance.

Yuki couldn't stop himself from snorting.

The sun had yet to rise by the time they managed to reach any sign of civilization. So, they had actually managed to make good time and gotten down the mountain in just a couple of hours.

Sadly, the "civilization" sign they had found was a small train station with only a single train that was already leaving.

Before Yuki could say anything, Motti was already running in its direction. The young astronomer panicked and tried his best to catch up with her.

Soon enough, Motti managed to hop on the narrow draw bar and grab the backdoor's handle to hold onto the moving train. She extended her other hand for Yuki to grab.

After a couple of attempts, she managed to clasp his wrists and he did the same, which forced him to make a jump. Thankfully, he managed to land on the draw bar right in front of her.

"Meow, open the door!" Motti shouts, because she can barely hear herself think thanks to the loud noise of the train.

Yuki obeys her command and pulls the door as hard as he can.

However, when he manages to open it, he slips and ends up only holding onto the door's handle for dear life.

"Oh my stars!" He shrieks, trying so hard to kick his way back to the draw bar. "H-help!"

Motti quickly takes a step inside the wagon and stretches herself as far as she can to take his hand.

Sadly, it's not far enough, as the door was wide open far enough to keep the boy just barely above the edges of the rails.

"Meow, hop off and take my hand!"

The young girl thought Yuki would be too afraid to try or that it would take more convincing. However, he surprised her by jumping without hesitation and taking her hand in a split second.

Both of them landed hard on the wagon's floor as soon as Motti pulled him. Thankfully, the door closed behind Yuki, so there wasn't a chance for the wind to push them back out.

They moaned with pain, barely managing to turn their bodies around to meet each other's gazes.

"How many painful falls does that make in the last 24 hours?" Yuki asks, pain still present in his voice.

"Meow, are you trying to be sarcastic right now?" Motti asked in a mixture of genuine surprise and slight annoyance.

"Partially, did it work?"

"Kinda annoying, meow."

"Noted."

Before they knew it, the door at the opposite way of the wagon was slowly open and they were greeted with a man holding a broom.

"Those dang raccoons, I thought I had closed the- AH! FOREST FREAKS!...Oh wait, it's just two kids."

The man, who they guess is the conductor due to the uniform he is wearing, puts the broom down and approaches them carefully.

"Are you guys okay?" He asks, kneeling down.

Slowly, both teenagers manage to sit up.

"Meow, sorry for the noise. We just missed the train and were in a hurry." Motti sighed tiredly. To tell the truth, she wasn't even in the mood to lie her way out of this one.

"So… You hopped on a moving train instead of waiting at the station?" The employee asked, baffled at the situation.

"Meow." Motti nods.

"Why were you two at the mountain anyway?" He asked.

"It's a long story, meow." She laughs awkwardly, hoping to end the conversation.

"And…why are you beat up and covered in ashes?"

"Tonight was complicated, okay?!" Yuki practically squeaks.

Everyone, including Yuki himself, is taken aback by the sudden outburst. It wasn't long before the shame started to sink in. The young astronomer was confused. He would never respond to a figure of authority with such rudeness.

… Then again, he was tired, starving, and almost died multiple times in one night.

But that's not an excuse to forget his manners. If his grandfather was here, he would look at him with such disappointment.

All of a sudden, Yuki felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head and saw Motti giving him an "it's okay" type of look.

He relaxed, or at least he tried to.

"I-I apologize for my rudeness, sir." The boy tries to speak with confidence as he starts to get up. "We've been through many mishaps tonight, and we just need to get to Metal City as soon as possible."

"Oh, you are going to Metal City?" Despite his confusion, the man still lights up. "Well, you are lucky! That's where our final stop is!"

Yuki blinks at that.

Well… That's certainly convenient for them.

"Meow, that's perfect!" Motti beamed, standing up as well. "We'll pay you for the tickets, meow. Just please don't kick us out!"

The conductor laughs at her words.

"Don't worry about that, kid! You two clearly had a rough night, so it's the least I can do to help!" He clarified. "Tell you what, why don't you two go wash your faces while I fetch you a snack and some blankets?"

"T-that won't be necessary, sir!" Yuki shook his head, nervous about the prospect of receiving help from a stranger.

"Meow, speak for yourself! I'm freezing!" Motti whispered at him as she playfully hit him with her elbow.

Yuki instinctively rubbed his shoulder and simply looked down.

"Oh, it's okay, kids! It's no bother, really!" The man insisted. "It's literally my job, after all!"

"Huh?"

"What? You thought I was the conductor?" The man asked with a smirk. "Well, I'm Isaac and I operate the snack cart!"

"I-I see-"

"I'm also supposed to help guide passengers!" Isaac keeps insisting with his cheerful attitude. "So, come with me, and I'll guide you to the bathrooms!"

Even if he was still hesitant, Yuki decided to stop protesting and just accept the man's help after noticing the way Motti's face lit up.

When he finally gets a chance to use the mirror, the boy gets to take a good look at how bad the damage actually is.

His hair is a mess that's covered in leaves and branches. His clothes are tattered. There are stains of ashes and dirt all over him, and there was a subtle mark on his left cheek where the tears he let out earlier washed up just a bit of an ash stain…

He looks like he was hit by a bus…

Normally, he would feel embarrassed, maybe even scared about being seen in such a state… However, he didn't feel anything at all.

Maybe his recent experiences made him realize there are more important things to worry about… Maybe he was too exhausted to care about his appearance… Maybe it's a combination of both.

Snapping out of his trance, Yuki opts for fixing himself up as much as he can.

Once he comes out of the bathroom, he finds Motti already plopped on one of the seats. Her eyes were closed, and she was snuggling against the window.

The young astronomer sat right next to her, carefully to not disturb her sleep.

"Meow, I'm awake, you know?" Motti whispers, her eyes still closed, but a smirk draws on her lips.

She didn't need to open her eyes to know that he turned his head to look at her.

"Yes, I do know that…" He laughed under his breath. Funny enough, it sounded like the truth. He didn't sound taken by surprise or anything.

He looked comfortable, relaxed, and a little tired. His glasses were slightly crooked, which he didn't seem to mind. He stared at the window for a second, it was still dark outside, the sun would be rising soon.

Since Motti was leaning against the window, he glanced at her reflection and noticed something.

"Your hair…" He mumbled.

"Meow?" She opened her eyes and arched an eyebrow. "Something wrong, meow?"

"N-not at all!" Yuki almost shrieks, cursing himself internally for insinuating anything bad. "I just noticed it looks different! More... Uh..."

"Fluffy?"

"Bouncy!" He blurts out. "Uh... Well, I guess that's an appropriate way to describe it."

Motti giggles and combs a few strands of her brown locks.

"Meow, yeah, I left my flat iron back at the temple." She explains. "It looks bad, meow, doesn't it? Johannes always makes fun of me when my hair gets like this…"

Yuki blinks. He didn't miss the way her face changed as she said those words. Motti's eyes went from their usual warmth into dullness for a split second.

"Why would he do that? I think it looks beautiful." He asks, clearly without thinking.

Before he realized what he had said, he saw Motti's eyes go wide for a hot second. When they return to normal, he notices that she starts blushing.

Suddenly the realization hits him, he quickly claps his hand over his mouth, embarrassed beyond belief.

"Um, I mean… It's objectively beautiful! T-that's not to say your hair wasn't beautiful before! Quite the contrary! It looked great when you straightened it, but this style seems to suit you too!" Yuki can't stop himself from blabbering. "It has this natural energy… just like you! It shows your excitement and your bright personality! It...Um… I've been talking for too long, haven't I?"

Even though Motti tried to contain her laughter, her cheeks started burning redder than ever.

"Meow, thanks! It's nice to hear that someone likes it this way." She tries to speak between laughs. "I guess I'll keep it puffy for a while, meow."

Yuki finally managed to shut his mouth and nod in response.

Suddenly, the wagon door was open once more.

"Hey, kids!" Isaac greeted them with a smile. "I got some blankets and a special visit from our estimated conductor!"

It wasn't long before he noticed how red Yuki's face was and the light pink hue of Motti's cheeks.

"Am I interrupting something?" He asks, placing the blankets on the table in front of the kids.

"N-no!" Yuki almost squeaked, which he noticed. So, he tried to calm down.

"Meow, right! All good here!" Motti tried to appear as calm and collected as possible… Which wasn't working.

However, as Yuki and Motti started to calm down, they noticed that there wasn't anyone next to Issac. Which was weird considering how he had announced the conductor's arrival.

They looked around and noticed there was a cat standing right next to the man. The cat was normal… If you overlooked the fact that it was wearing a hat and tie.

"Well, never mind that." Issac quipped, handing them the blankets. "Guys, I want you to meet Korin! He is the conductor of this amazing train!"

The kids stared at the cat.

"... You can see the cat too, right?" Yuki whispers to his companion as low as possible.

"Meow, yup." Motti whispers back.

Even if the young girl adored cats more than anything… She couldn't help but to feel confused about the feline staring right in front of them.

Korin meowed. Yuki didn't miss how Motti blinked, perplexed at whatever the cat had said.

Isaac giggled at their confusion, "I know it's kind of a shock and you two had a long day. So, we'll leave you to rest. Oh, and here, there's not much to eat, but I was able to find a couple of melon pan breads!"

"T-thank you!" Yuki was taken aback when Issac eagerly handed him the food. However, he tried his best to smile.

It was nice to have someone help them out after everything they had endured tonight.

He looked to his side and quickly Motti had wrapped herself in one of the blankets. It wasn't lost on him how the young girl looked so comfortable, safe, and at peace. He handed her the melon pan, which she accepted with a tired smile. She looked so ready to go to sleep.

"Well, it's obvious you two need some rest." Issac seemed to notice as well. "We will be reaching Metal City in a few hours. I think you should catch up on some sleep."

Korin meowed, seemingly in agreement.

"Lead the way, captain!" The young man opened the door for the cat to exit before him.

Once they left, Motti sighed heavily.

"Meow, you know he just called us freeloaders, right?"

Yuki's eyes go wide for a second. However, he starts thinking about the cats that Johannes left with him when he was kidnapped… The way they would threaten to scratch him every time he moved, the way they would hiss at him out of nowhere, and the things Motti translated for him that would make a sailor blush…

It could be that most felines had a temper.

"I… I didn't know that." The astronomer mumbled, shock replaced with faint interest. "... What else did he say?"

"Meow, the first thing he said was that next time jump on his beloved train without paying for a ticket: he's throwing us overboard." She replied, completely unfaced.

Yuki arched an eyebrow, "Are all cats this comfortable threatening people?"

Motti simply shrugged, eating the piece of bread in just a few bites.

Instead of eating, Yuki grabs his backpack and starts looking through his stuff.

Or, better said, what was left of his stuff.

"Meow? What's up?" The girl asks, there was curiosity in her voice in spite of how tired she felt.

"I could swear I had brought my journal with me." Yuki mumbles as he keeps looking. "Since I don't have my tablet anymore, I might as well keep my notes on paper."

Motti winces at his words.

Yuki is pretty much accustomed to that wince by now. So, he just sighs in defeat and stops searching.

"Alright, what did he do to my journal?" The boy asked as he crossed his arms.

"Meow… Remember that night I sneaked you some of those marshmallow cookie thingies Johannes made? Meow?" Motti tries to smile as she scratches the back of her head. "He might have used the pages to make the bonfire… Like…all of them, meow."

The fact that none of that surprised the poor astronomer was pretty sad when you stopped to think about it.

"Ugh, of course he did." Yuki groaned and grumbled under his breath.

And just like that, his entire research is gone.

Well, what did he expect? For his kidnapper to respect his belongings?

"Meow, you can take this."

"Huh?"

Yuki snaps out of his lamenting and turns his head to see his companion offering something to him.

It was a pastel pink notebook, it had some sleeping cats in the cover and a pen inserted inside the spiral. The pen seemed to match the cover, as the pom pom at the top was the exact same shade of pink.

"Why are you-"

"Meow, I know I can't bring your old research back, but… Meow, maybe you can start a new one." Motti tries to explain, awkwardly giggling as she still holds out the notebook. "Meow, I promise I only wrote in it once and completely forgot about it."

Yuki was still taken aback at her kindness. However, he managed to recover quickly and gave his friend a warm smile in response.

"Meow, sorry it looks silly, it's the only one I could find and-"

"It's perfect."

Motti's mouth stops moving. She looks up and sees her friend smiling as he takes the notebook in his hands.

"I guess a good place to start would be writing a list of possible legendary bladers, right?" He grabs the pen and gets ready to start taking notes.

Motti lets out a giggle, "Meow! Sounds good to me!"

"Now, let's see…" Yuki starts writing, he immediately notices that the pen's ink is a rather bright pink with glitter.

Interestingly enough, the ballpoint was so soft, it made the writing experience so gentle on his wrist.

"With the two fragments that I was able to trace to Metal City: it's safe to assume Gingka Hagane and Kyoya Tategami are very likely to be legendary bladers." Yuki finishes writing their names.

He feels his companion scooch closer to him and let her head fall on his shoulder.

Yuki just lets it happen. It's understandable that she is tired.

"Meow, are you sure?" Motti lets out a yawn, but she remains attentive to the page. "How do we know it's not Tsubasa Otori or Yu Tendo, Meow?"

"Mmm… That is a possibility." Yuki nods, writing their names as well. "Wasn't Madoka Amano also a member of Gan Gan Galaxy? That would make her a suspect too."

"Meow, but she doesn't battle." Motti pointed out, "She was the team's mechanic, remember?"

"Oh, really?" Yuki scratches the name, "Sorry, sometimes I tune off what's playing on the television whenever I'm working. So, I guess I didn't pay that much attention to the world championships."

"Meow, that's fine." Motti giggled again, "Meow, did you get to watch Battle Bladers?"

"Unfortunately not." Yuki shook his head, sounding apologetic, "It was around the time Grandpa signed me up for a class."

"Meow, good for you, honestly." Motti quips, "That tournament was messed up."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Kyoya Tategami got stabbed at the end of a battle."

"Oh my stars…"